As an optimist, I choose to be glass-half-full about [Donald Trump] while still very cautiously appreciating and understanding the fear that a lot of our fellow citizens have.

I had folks in the RNC spinning me the night of the election because they were sure that their guy [Donald Trump] was going to lose. But they were trying to make the case the RNC had at least done its job.

I was talking to a friend of mine who's a teacher in Iowa and, you know, she teaches kids - English is their second language, and they're scared that they're going to get sent home, their family's going to get broken up. Regardless of whether [Donald Trump] does it or not, whether it's true or not, the rhetoric creates a climate of fear and tension, and that's not good for the country.

The real action in Washington now is actually going to be on the - from the center to the center-right to the right. Part that's going to be interesting is going to be how [Donald] Trump and the Republicans, frankly, navigate this new climate.

[Donald Trump's] instincts are way more favorable to the LGBTQ community than any other Republican that was on the stage.

You have a sense that [Donald] Trump will probably reimagine where the Republican Party is on that issue and some others. But then I think conservatives may win in some areas, too - tax reform. So it's just - it's an enormously exciting time in terms of the possibilities.

I think this [ statement that Donald Trump would fight for LGBTQ people] is not just a story of the media spinning people up, but it's a story of special interests on the left, who also feel like their candidate lost, and stoking the flames on the fire because it helps spin up their supporters and help their donations and help their organizations. And it helps, frankly, polarize the country to their short-term benefit and at the expense, frankly, of progress for LGBTQ Americans.